New York Giants Training Camp Preview - K/P Ryan Santoso

Kicking specialist Ryan Santoso is probably much more than just an extra leg at training camp to take some of the snaps off of incumbents Riley Dixon and Graham Gano.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Jul 12, 2021 5:00 PM EDT

Kicking specialist Ryan Santoso, who can punt and place-kick--impressed the Giants so much last year that the team elevated him to the game-day roster in the regular-season finale as a reward for all he brought to the club.

Mind you, this move was made despite the Giants' two primary kicking specialists, punter Riley Dixon and kicker Graham Gano, being healthy.

What did Santoso bring, and why is he back with the Giants again this year? Read on.

What He Brings

Versatility--there's that word again. But to understand how it applies to Santoso, let's take a quick look at how he got to this point.

A kicker at Pace High School (Milton, Florida), Santoso enrolled at Minnesota. But after redshirting in 2013, his first season as the Golden Gophers' kicker came with mixed results in that he went 12-of-18 (66.7%) on field goals but 45-of-46 (97.8%) on extra-point tries.

But what Santoso did show was a strong leg--one of his field goals was a game-winning 52-yarder against Purdue. And although Santoso got better as a field goal kicker, converting 17-of-21 (80.9%) in 2015, the coaching staff decided to take better advantage of his leg strength by converting him to punter before the 2016 season.

The move seemed to pay off. In 2016, Santoso punted 77 times for 3,151 yards (40.9 yards/punt) and improved in 2017 when he punted 66 times for 2,838 yards (43.0 yards/punt).

But along the way, Santoso always seemed to carry place-kicking in his back pocket. He signed as an undrafted free agent with Detroit before trying his hand in the CFL.

He then came back to the NFL with the Titans, went back to the CFL, and then landed with the Giants, who kept him as their reserve kicker/punter in the event COVID-19 hit any of their starters (which it did during the bye week).

According to Giants special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey, Santoso is much more than just training camp fodder.

"Ryan is a specialist in camp. He's in here competing for a job just like everybody else, and he's working his tail off," he said.

"He's had a really good off-season and any time you get a chance to work with a guy like him, it's a bonus for sure."

Santoso has a reputation for having a strong kicking leg. Will it be enough, though, for him to edge out Dixon at punter? We should start to get a clearer picture of that early on in training camp.

His Contract

Santoso is signed to a two-year reserve/futures contract that runs through 2022 and will count for $783,750 against this year's cap.

Roster Projection/Expectations

Santoso was one of the top priorities for the Giants to retain following the season as they wasted little time signing him to a reserve/futures contract. While he won't be challenging Gano for the kicker role, keep an eye on the punting competition.

Dixon didn't have as solid or consistent of a season last year (though, as also noted, the inconsistent play of the gunners didn't help his case).

Still, Dixon, who counts for $2.925 million against this year's cap and who could yield a $2.8 million cap savings if cut, isn't necessarily a lock to remain on the roster as if Santoso outkicks him this summer, the Giants won't hesitate in making a move.

And in making a move, the Giants also gain another advantage in that they have an emergency backup to Gano if something should happen to him. This way, the giants won't have to expose Santoso to waivers where another team looking to add backup depth at kicker and punter could potentially be looking to pounce.

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